Taveta sleuth kills man he claimed shot Flying Squad officer

What you need to know:

  • Officer David Gitahi, of Taveta Police Station, was apprehended for killing Mr Esau Juma by shooting him three times in the chest.
  • Taveta divisional police commander Lawrence Maroa said Mr Gitahi claimed Mr Juma was one of two people who killed a Flying Squad officer in Taveta town last week.

A police constable has been arrested in Taveta for shooting and killing a reveller at Rockland pub on Friday night.

Officer David Gitahi, of Taveta Police Station, was apprehended for killing Mr Esau Juma by shooting him three times in the chest.

Taveta divisional police commander Lawrence Maroa said the officer, popularly knows as ‘soldier boy’ had the pistol he had been given for patrol duties on Friday evening.

FLYING SQUAD

Mr Maroa added that Mr Gitahi claimed Mr Juma was one of two people who killed a Flying Squad officer in Taveta town last week.

“According to the witnesses, there was no argument. He just shot him saying he was a robbery suspect,” he said.

“We are investigating the circumstances that led to the incident,” he said, adding Mr Gitahi admitted to committing the crime and to being drunk at the time.

The OCPD said three spent cartridges were found at the scene.

The officer was taken to Taveta Police Station and the body to Taveta Sub-county Hospital’s mortuary.

SHOOTOUT

The Flying Squad officer was killed on the night of March 25 in a shootout with suspected robbers in Taveta town.

He had been with his colleagues when he was shot by two people linked to the robbery in Mombasa that was caught on CCTV cameras.

The suspected gangsters, Mr Maroa said at the time, are believed to be members of a notorious group behind a series of robberies in Mombasa town.

Police started investigations after an undated video clip surfaced, showing three men walking past a woman at an M-Pesa shop in Makonde, Mombasa, before brandishing a weapon and and taking her handbag.

Police identified the suspects as Mr Brighton Naiya Manyala, Mr Mohamed Hassan, Mr Chris Odhiambo Omondi, Mr Evans Munyoki Mburiro and Mr Mutonyi Nzamba.